The present invention generally relates to simplified device and method for securing a radio to an antenna.
There are a number of existing ways to mount a radio, i.e. the transmitter/receiver portion of a communication system, to an antenna. High securing forces are desirable for mounting a radio to an antenna because these forces counteract the effect of shock and vibration loads caused by external forces such as wind. Some existing mounting systems use sets of individually installed latches, while others use bolts. The latches are typically manually operated and provide only a limited total compression per latch. While bolts can provide much greater compression loads, they must be individually installed and tightened. Therefore, a device that provides greater deflection and friction forces and simplicity of installation is needed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,633,151 teaches a combined mechanical fastener and electrical connector with tabs that are rotated to engage circumferential locking members. These fasteners, however, do not provide variable deflection and friction forces. Therefore, they cannot provide the high deflection and friction forces needed to mount a radio to an antenna, while at the same time enabling a user to overcome these forces when fastening the device.
This invention is a novel locking mechanism for mounting a radio to an antenna. The mounting face of a radio is secured to the mounting face of an antenna. The radio has a locking ring, on which a plurality of locking tabs are located at equally spaced positions. The antenna has a corresponding number of equally spaced tension springs assemblies, which are made up of a plurality of spring fingers.
To mount the radio to the antenna, the radio locking ring with locking tabs is twisted so that each tension spring finger is deflected by a corresponding locking tab. This deflection force produces a friction force that secures the radio to the antenna.
The use of spring fingers creates a variable force tension spring. The spring fingers allow the deflection and friction forces between the tension spring and locking tab to increase step-wise when the locking tab is brought into contact with each additional spring finger. This step increase in the forces allows a user, when turning the radio, to overcome the sum of forces of each spring finger individually, instead of having to overcome the entire sum of forces of one solid spring. Therefore, it is easier to mount the antenna to the radio using the individual spring fingers than it would be with one-piece tension springs.
The locking ring of the invention can be either fixed to the radio or rotatably attached to the antenna. Having a rotatable ring allows the radio to remain stationary during the installation of the radio to the antenna. If it is rotatably attached, the proper polarization of the radio antenna system can be assured by employing a polarization pin.